Traffic marker



June 24, 1930.

w. s. SHERMAN TRAFFIC MARKER Filed Jan. 10, 1929 qmm||||| llllllln INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 24 1 930 PATENT OFFICE WARREN s. snnmvmn, or OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA TRAFFIC MARKER Application filed January 10, 1929. Serial No. 331,508.

This invention relates to improvements in street markers. V p

The primaryobject of this invention is the provision of a flexible street marker hav- 5 ing improved means to mount the same in a street pavement so that the flexible marker projects above the pavement in such relation that after being collapsed upon the pavement surface by vehicular or pedestrian traffic it will return to its normal upright traffic warning position when the abnormal force operating thereon is removed.

A furtherobject of this invention is the provision of a flexible, and preferably elastic traflic marker, made preferably of rubher, having improved means to releasably clamp the same in a road or pavement surface so that the same will stand upright therefrom and serve as a warning or inclication to traffic; and which may be collapsed upon the pavement or street surface incident to a force operating thereon, such as being crushed down by vehicular or pedestrian traflic, and which due to its resiliency and flexibility will assume a normal position after the force is removed.

Other objects and advantages of thisinvention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown only a preferred embodiment of this invention,

Figure 1, is a perspective View showing disassembled details of the improved street 5 marker and its base.

Figure 2 is an endsectional view taken longitudinally of the street marker, showing important details.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view 40 taken through the improved street marker in its upright position, showing the base supporting details for clamping it in a street, roadway, or pavement.

Figure 4 is a plan view showing the proved marker assemblage.

In the drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, letter A may generally designate the street marker, which preferably is supported by means B in upstanding relation from a street or pavement C.

The marker A is preferably of rubber, although it may be of other material, and an essential characteristic of the same is that it is of flexible material and will inherently assume its upright position after being bent out of normal position by some abnormal force. It is preferably both resilient and elastic. It may be of rectangular formation, and is preferably sufficiently thick to render thesame durable for the purpose forwhich intended. On one or both sides thereof it may. be provided with warning indicia 10, either painted thereon, or disposed in relief, or 'intaglio. It may be thicker at the clamping part thereof, and if desired the location at which it is adapted to bend, flush with the street surface, may be reinforced or provided with any means which will render the same more durable.

Thev supporting means B preferably comprises an elongated box-likebody 20, preferablyformedof cast iron, or some other durable material which will not deteriorate either incident to unfavorable road shocks or temperature variations. It is provided with spaced longitudinal walls 21 and 22, and end walls 23, defining a compartment 24. The inside surface of the wall 21 facing the compartment 24, designated by numeral-26, slopes downwardly into the compartment convergent with respect to the compartment facing surface of the wall 22, so that the compartment 24: decreases in width from the, top thereof downwardly.

Suitable supporting transoms or cleats 29 are supported at the ends, and intermediate portion of the container body 20, projecting belowthe bottom of the container and at opposite sides thereof, as a means of rendering the position of the supporting box stable when embedded in the road surface. The box at opposite end walls is preferably provided with integral block portions 85, the upper, surfaces of which are disposed below the normal flush top edges of the side and end walls 21 to 23 inclusive, and which block portions 35 are provided with vertical, screw threaded openings 36 therein for receiving clamping bolts for a purpose to be subsequently described. The upper edge of the wall 22 may be convexly arcuated at 38, shown best in Figure 8 of the drawing.

The body 20 is embedded in the street C, or in the pavement, or in the location it is desired to support the marker, preferably so that the top edges of the walls 21, 22,

and 23 are flush with the top surface 39 of the street or pavement C, as shown in Figure 3 of the drawing. 1

The lower marginal portion of the marker A is disposed in the compartment 2+1 of the box, against the inside surface of the longitudinal wall 22, so that the marker A extends upwardly in a preferably perpendicular relation above the top surface of the street.

A wedge block or strip 45, preferably of cast iron, or any approved material, is adapted to be disposed in the compartment 24- bctween the surface 26 of the wall 21 and the lower marginal portion of the marker A therein. This wedge piece in cross section is of substantially trapezoidal shape, providing upper and lower parallel surfaces 49 and 50 respectively, with a side surface 51 which vertically abuts against the lower marginal portion of the marker A, and an opposite side surface 52 which diverges downwardly'with respect to the surface 51, and is adapted to abut against the sloping inside surface 26. It is of course apparent that the wedge piece 45 fitting into the compartment 26 will ride along the surface 26 and be forced into a wedge abutment with the lower marginal portion of the marker A, throughout the length of the latter, to hold the marker A in a vertical position. The depth of the wedge piece 45 is such that the same will lie entirely within the compartment 24:, with its top surface 4L9 below the upper edges of the walls of the box 20.

A retaining strip 60, preferably of metal, or of any other approved formation, is provided, adapted to lie within the upper portion of the compartment 24:, longitudinally thereof, over the wedge piece 45. The ends of this strip extend beyond the ends of the wedge piece 45, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, and overlying the tops of the end block portions 35 of the base box 20. These end portions 61 of the strip 60 are provided with openings 62 therein for receiving bolts or screws 63, by means of which the strip may be attached at its ends in the screw threaded openings 36 above mentioned. This clamps the strip 60 down upon the wedge piece 45 for holding the latter in a wedging relation in the box against the resilient strip A. The edge 70, of the strip 60, facing the marker A is convexly rounded in a protecting relation, to permit the marker A to flex thereagainst without creasing or destroying the efficiency of the marker.

It is apparent from the foregoing description that the flexible marker is supported in an upstanding vertical relation from the road or pavement, in an efiicient relation, so that vehicular or pedestrian traffic may trample upon the same, without destroying the efliciency thereof, and so that it will rise immediately thereafter to its vertical warning position.

, Various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be made to the form of invention herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the claims.

Iclaim:

1. As an article of manufacture a metal clamping base for traflic markers comprising an elongated container having an elongated compartment,said container having longitudinally facing side walls converging downwardly into the compartment, wedge means operable upon one of said side walls along the compartment, and means to clamp the wedge means in the compartment against a side wall of the container and against a markerstrip at the opposite side of the container.

2. In a trafic marker the combination of a box-like base having a compartment opening upwardly, the box-like base being adapted to be embedded in a roadway with its compartment facing upwardly, said compartment being elongated and the opposite longitudinal facing surfaces being relative- 1y convergent downwardly inv the base, a flexible sheet of elastic material with warning indicia thereon having a marginal portion positioned in said compartment of the base, and a wedgebar wedged in said base compartment between said margin of the sheet and the opposite wall of said base.

3. In a traffic marker of the class described a supporting base defining an elongated narrow slot, a flexible sheet of elastic material of inherent nature to assume an original shape having a-marginal portion detach-ably seated in said slot of the base having a projecting portion provided with warning indicia thereon, and a tapered elongated wedge bar releasably positioned in said base slot and clamping the marginal portion of the sheet therein between the bar and a wall of the base with an increasing wedge clamping effect as the bar is moved downwardly into the base.

4t. In traffic marking apparatus the combination of an elongated metal base of boxlike form providing an elongatedslot-like compartment opening upwardly which decreases in width from the top downwardly, a flexible elastic marker element having a marginal portion seated longitudinally. in said compartment, a wedge bar of tapered diminishing cross section from the top thereof to the bottom thereof detachably seated in the slot of the base for Wedging a marginal portion of the sheet against a wall of the base, and a retaining strip having bolted connection with the base to hold said Wedge bar in a clamping position against said strip.

WARREN S. SHERMAN. 

